Lake City

LAKE CITY, FL – Columbia County and Lake
City have one thing in common: a school
district that does not teach the importance
of effective government. Both local
governments have been plagued by elected
officials and appointed ones, all alumni of
the Columbia County School District that
come to public meetings and just cannot be
heard or understood.

Monday night in City Hall was City
Manager Grayson Cason's turn to be generally
incomprehensible to members of the audience
from barely 12 feet away.

The agenda backup material was also
incomplete for an estimated $296,000 repair
to City Hall.

The Attorney General

Almost half a century ago the Florida
Attorney General's Office advised that
discussions of public business which are
audible only to “a select few” may violate
the “openness” requirement of the law.

In relevant part the Attorney General
wrote:

I cannot help but observe that discussions
among city council members and staff members
that are audible only to a select few ...
might not satisfy the "openness" requirement
of the Sunshine Law... I am of the view that
the city council might well be advised to
avoid even the appearance of impropriety by
expending all efforts to conform to the
spirit as well as the letter of the Sunshine
Law.

City Manager Cason

City Manager Cason was barely audible,
nothing new with Lake City's City Managers,
as he began his presentation regarding a
$296,000 repair to City Hall.

Then the air-conditioning kicked in and
City Manager Cason's words were swallowed up
until Chief Gilmore finally shut off the
air-conditioning, which helped.

City Manager Cason was asking for an
additional $17,000 to hire a structural
engineer and architect to perform a general
assessment of the building facade and
western section of the second and third
floor of City Hall. The mortar supporting
the bricks has decayed to the point causing
a safety concern to employees and citizens
walking throughout the area.

According to the documents presented to
the City Council and made available to the
public on Friday, 3 pages titled "Attachment
A", laid out the substance and price
breakdown of the engineering proposal and
was what the Council was being asked to
approve.

The attachment was not attached to the
resolution. If anyone noticed it was not
attached, they did not mention it. It passed
unanimously.

The $296,000 Repair

City Manager Cason did not mention the
vendor who provided the $296,000 estimate to
repair City Hall.

A search of the City Website and Demand
Star did not reveal that any bids for this
service were made or requested
publically.